Locking shingle



H. FORBES LOCKING SHINGLE June 29, 1937.

2, Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 5, 1931 LOCKING SHINGLE Filed April 3, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 29 1.937

4PATENT ori-ICE y aosassr Locimzcr smNGLE Harry Forbes, Richmond Hill, N. Y., assignor, by `mesne assignments, to Bakelite Building Products Co., Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application April 3, 1931, Serial No. 527,402

11 Claims.

The invention relates in general to shingles and more particularly to shingles of the flexible composition type.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a shingle which will not curl at the parts exposed to the weather.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shingle having a ap -at one corner which is adapted to be folded under the adjoining shingle in the same row to prevent curling up of the weather edges of the shingles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shingle which is so shaped that when a plurality of them is cut from/a strip of exible material l5 there will be a minimum of waste.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shingle which is simple in construction, easy to position on the surface to be shingled, durable and effective in service.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description and claims'when considered with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents a strip of material illustrating how the shingles are cut therefrom;

Fig. 2 illustrates a single row of shingles applied to a supporting surface;

Fig. 3 illustrates how two adjoining shingles in the same row are placed together;

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate ways in which the shingles may be applied to a supporting surface,

in each case the successive shingles in the different rows being placed directly in line; and

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate other ways in which the shingle may be applied to a supporting surface, in

each case the shingles in the adjoining rows being staggered with respect to each other.

In the following description and in the claims, various details will be identified by specific names for convenience, but they are'intended to be as 40 generic in their application as the art will permit.

. A Like reference characters denotelike parts in the several gures of the drawings. Y

In the drawings accompanying and .forming part of this specication, certain specific disclosure of the invention is made for purposes of explanation, but it will be understood that the details may be modied in various respects without departure from the broad aspect of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, and more par- 0 ticularly to Fig. 3, each shingle comprises a body II) of a generally rectangular design having a straight weather edge II which has a shallow rectangular notch I2 cut out of one corner. At the other end of the weather edge II is a ap I3 55 adapted to be bent and folded under the body of the shingle 'as will hereinafter more cleat".v appear. A

'I'he -ap has a beveled side I4 at the end of which are angular projections I5 and I6. At the diametrically opposite corner from the notch I2 5A the shingle is provided with beveled edge II having angular notches or recesses I8 and I9.

Referring now to Fig. 1 these shingles maybe cut from a strip of composition roofing material or from a strip of any other desirable material in the manner shown. The length of the parent material, which is usually supplied in rolls, runs across the sheet of drawings and it may be of' suiiicient width to provide one or more lines of shingles. In Fig. 1 three lines, A, B, and C, are shown for purposes of illustration. It will be seen that the flap I3 is formed from the material cut out to form the beveled edge I1 of the adjoining shingle, and that the part cut to form the rectangular notch I2 is the only part which is wasted. Since the depth of this notch is only equal to the thickness of the composition material the waste must be very small.

Referring now to Fig. 2, to mount a single'row on a supporting surface the shingle indicated by 5 D is placed upon the supporting surface with the edge II exposed to the weather. Nails or other fastening elements, indicated by 2| and 22 are driven through the shingle in the position shown. The next shingle, indicated by E, is lapped over the rst shingle, as shown, with its ap I3 folded under the shingle D and resting in the notch I2 of the shingle D, as indicated. It will be seen that the notch I2 and the side of the angled notch I8 assist in positioning the shingle E in proper overlapping relation to the shingle D. `Nails are driventhrough the shingle E in the same manner as explained in connection with shingle D and the succeeding shingles F, G, and I-I in the same row are laid in the same manner.

It will be understood that the row of shingles indicated in Fig. 2 may run from left to right horizontally across the roof or side of the building or other surface it is desired to protect, or the row may run at an angle such as to the horizontal. 45

Furthermore, the shingles in the Vsuccessive rows may be in line with the shingles immediately under them, or they may be staggered. Figs. 4

to 7 illustrate these ways of mounting the shingles. Referring now to Fig. 4, the bottom row J may be laid in the same manner as explained in conf nection with Fig. 2. The next succeeding course` or row K is laid in the same manner as the first row with its shingles overlapping the first row,

the desired amount. As illustrated, the shingles in the row K overlap as far as the notches I9 in the shingles of the lower row, which act as guides for positioning the shingles in the upper row. Furthermore, the shingles in the successive rows are all directly in line with the shingles directly underneath, presenting an appearance of aligned rectangles, as shown.

Referring to Fig. 5, the shingles in this figure are laid similarly to the shingles in Fig. 4 except that they are laid at an angle of 45. The right liand edge of the supporting surface is indicated by 25 and as shown the shingles at this edge may be cut even with it. At the lower edge of the supporting surface may be placed an end. strip 23 of roofing material which may be colored to harmonize with the shingles. The rows of shingles then start at the lower right hand corner, the first row being indicated by 'L and the next row being indicated by M. It will be apy,

preciated that, if desired, the strip 23 may be omitted `and the shingles at the bottom edge of the surface may be cut even with the straight lower edge as at the right vertical edge. Other approved arrangements may be/made for the vertical and horizontal edges of the supporting urface, if desired.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5 the effect of a plurality of diamond shaped members standing on their corners and being aligned vertically and horizontally is obtained.A This appearance is very attractive and the "construction of the shingle lends itself very well to making a shingle surface of this appearance as well as of the appearance shown in Fig. 4.

Referring now to Fig- 6, the bottom rowof shingles is indicated by N and is laid in the same Way as explained in connection with Fig. 2. The second row, indicated by O, is laid with its shingles staggered with respect to the shingles in the lower row. In this case the appearance of a plurality of staggered rectangles is obtained, which is very attractive.

Referring now to Fig. 7, the shingles in this figure are laid in rows, but the rows indicated by P and Q run at 45, as explained in Fig. 5, and the shingles in the successive rows are staggered, as in Fig. 6. The lower edge of the .sur-

face may be provided with a strip of roofing 24 and the vertical edges of the surface may be nished in the manner explained in Fig. 5, or in any other desired way.

Thus, a shingle has been disclosed which is capable of being mounted in a number of different ways to provide any one of a number of appearances to suit the individual customer. Furthermore, the provision of the underlying flap and the notches .assists not only in positioning the shingles in any one row, but also assists in holding down the weather portions of the shingles, preventing them from curling up. Furthermore, the overlapping of one shingle on the other in the same row allows nails to be placed in the shingles at the parts thereof adjacent to the parts exposed to the weather and the overlapping of the adjoining shingle protects these fastening elements from the weather.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a shingle has been provided which is simple, practical and economical and which will effectively perform the functions and fulfill the objects hereinbefore set forth. In addition, the shingle lends itself to making a finished surface of a number of pleasing designs. Y

While certainv novel features of the in vention have been disclosed and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A iiexible shingle of composition roofing material comprising a substantially rectangular body having a shallow notch in the lower weather edge adjacent an end edge to be covered, a small flap projecting from said lower-weather edge adjacent the end weather edge, said flap being adapted to be folded underneath the body of the shingle, the corner diagonally opposite said notch having a bevelled edge, said bevelled edge being complementary to said flap, said bevelled edge having upper and lower recesses at its junction with the adjacent edges of the shingle, said upper recess aiding in spacing adjacent shingles in the same course, said lower recess assisting in spacing adjacent rows of shingles, the greater part of said lower weather edge running between said flap and said4 notch.

2. A shingle comprising a substantially rectangular body having a small iiap projecting from the lower weather edge adjacent an end weather edge, said flap being adapted to be folded underneath the body of the shingle, the corner at the other end of said end weather edge being cutaway to form an edge portion connecting said end weather edge and the edge opposite said lower weather edge, said cut-away portion being substantially complementary to said flap, and said connecting edge portion having upper and lower markings, said upper marking aiding in spacing adjacent shingles in the same course, and said lower marking assisting in spacing adjacent rows of shingles, said flap extending only a limited distance along said lower weather edge.

3. A exible shingle substantially rectangular `in form and having a relatively narrow retrovertible locking tab extending from its butt edge at one end thereof, said shingle being adapted to be laid with its butt edge horizontal and with the end of the shingle carrying said tab laterally overlapping the opposite end of an adjacent shingle in the same course, said tab being adapted to be held against displacement from its retroverted position by said overlapped opposite end of the adjacent shingle, and said tab being of a width, measured lengthwise of the butt edge, substantially equal to the amount of said lateral overlap.

4. The surface covering comprising courses of flexible shingles of substantially rectangular form, each of said shingles having a retroverted locking tab extending from one end of its butt edge, each shingle in each course being laid with the side edge thereof. adjacent which said tab is formed, laterally overlapping the opposite side edge of the adjacent shingle, said overlapped portion of said adjacent shingle being nailed near the lower end thereof, the tab of the rst mentioned shingle lying under the overlapped portion of said adjacent shingle and held against displacement therefrom by the nailed lower end of said overlapped portion of the adjacent shingle, said tab being of a width, measured lengthwise of the butt edge of the shingle substantially equal to the amount of said lateral overlap.

5. In roof construction, a substantially flat and rectangular shingle having one corner of one end of its upper edge cut away along a relatively short ,diagonal line to form a triangular cutout of predetermined transverse width to indicate the amount of overlap of the shingles of the next adjacent course, said shingle having the opposite corner of the same end of its lower edge provided with a relatively short underfolded triangular extension complementary to the cutout -in courses and having edges extending along opposite edges of their course; each shingle in a course having an edge overlying the edgev of an adjacent shingle in the same course to form a lap and an opposite edge underlying the edge of a tive adjustment of the shingles substantially parallel to the course to vary the amount of lap; and means to resist displacement of the interlock comprising driven fastening meansadjacent the lower edge of the course, passing through one of said lapping shingles at a position normally exposed during application. and being Vcovered by the adjacentshingle lapped therewith in the nished covering.

7. A surface covering comprising flexible composition shingles; said shingles being arranged in courses and having edges extending along opposite edges of their course; each shingle in a course having an edge overlying the edge of an adjacent shingle in the same course to form a lap and an opposite edge underlying the edge of a second shingle in the same course to form another lap; pre-formed locking means comprising a. re-

troverted locking tab of similar material to the shingle extending from one end of the shingle butt edge and integral therewith. for interlocking the lapping, edge portions of each pair of Jadjacent shingles in the same course with relative adjustment of the shingles in the course to vary the amount of lap; said locking means on one shingle being engaged with the lower edge of the adjacent underlying shingle in the same course and having its tab lying under the overlapped shingle: and driven fastening means adjacent ,the lower edge of the course, passing through one of said lapping shingles at a position normally exposed during application and covered-by the adjacent shingle lapped therewith in the finished lateral overlap, and driven fastening means passing through one of the shingles adjacent a corner thereof near the lower edge of the course and covered by the adjacent shingle in lapping relation therewith, said fastening means providing with said tab a means of preventing displacement of the shingles.

9. A flexible shingle substantially rectangular in form, and having a retrovertible locking tab extending from its butt edge at one end thereof, said shingle being adapted to be laid with other similar shingles in longitudinally extending courses and wit-h'the end of the shingle carrying said tab laterally overlapping the opposite end of an adjacent shingle in the same course, andVA` with said tab overlapped by said adjacent shingle, said tab having a -width measured-lengthwise of the shingle butt edge adapted to indicate an amount of lateral overlap between adjacent shingles, and said shingle being adapted to be held against displacement by said retroverted tab, and driven fastening4 means adjacent a lower corner thereof and covered by said adjacent shingle in lapping reiation therewith in assembly.

l0. A iexible shingle substantially rectangular in form, and having a retrovertible locking tab extending from its butt edge at one end thereof, and a recessmin its butt edge at the opposite end thereof, said shingle being adapted to be laid with other similar shingles in longitudinally extending courses and with the end of theshingle carrying said, tab laterally overlapping the Opposite end of an adjacent shingle in the same course, and with said tab overlapped by said adjacent shingle andresting in the recess of said achacent shingle, said tab having a width measured lengthwise of the shingle butt edge adapted to vindicate an amount of lateral pverlap between adjacent shingles, and said shingle being adapted to be held against displacement by said retroverted tab, and driven fastening means adjacentv a lower corner thereof and covered by said adjacent shingle in lapping relation therewith in membly.

11. In a shingle surface, a. first course comprising a plurality of shingles, each shingle in the course overlying an adjacent shingle on one side. a second course comprising shingles laid vsubstantially the same way as said first course and overlying said first course, each shingle having a shallow recess in its lower weather edge underlying an adjacent shingle in the same course,

each shingle having a small iiap of general tri-4 angular shape at an end of the weather edge spaced from said recess and disposed under an.v

other adjacent shingle in the same course, and a bend'connecting said flap to the body of the shingle located in the shallow recess of said adjacent shingle overlying said ap, each shingle having a beveled edge in the corner diagonally opposite' said shallow recess, said beveled edge being substantially complementary to an edge of said iap and having upper and lower notches, said upper notch and-the inner end of said small iap being substantially in line with the overlapped edge of an adjacent shingle in the same course, said lower notch being substantially in line with'the lower edge of the shingles in the adjacent overlying course.

' HARRY FORBES. 

